WALTHAM -- Pending single-family home sales rose 11.3 percent in December when compared to the same month a year earlier, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

MAR reported the number of homes placed under agreement totaled 2,808 last month, up 11.3 percent from the December 2012 total of 2,521. Last month marked the 10th consecutive one that year-over-year figures increased.

Condominium statistics were similar, with 1,045 condos coming under agreement last month, up 12 percent from the December 2012 total of 933.

Pending sales -- when a prospective buyer and seller come to an agreement on a property, but before papers are signed -- of single-family homes and condos dropped significantly from November, but MAR said that is typical.

"2013 was a good, stable year of recovery for the real estate market," said MAR president Peter Ruffini, a regional vice president at Norwell-based Jack Conway & Co. "We expect 2014 to be another good year."

Real-estate pros say the tracking of pending sales provide reliable information about where the market is heading in coming months.

The median December sales price for a single-family home was up 6.3 percent to $320,000, while the median condo price rose 8 percent to $305,000, MAR said.

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